


009 Log: On number 18 and the third war starting

by TickToxissor



Category: Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types, Rockman | Mega Man Classic
Genre: Fluff I guess, Gen, Monologue, Repair, cutman goes through a window, megaman 2, megaman 3, others too - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2019-01-06 06:06:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12205356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TickToxissor/pseuds/TickToxissor
Summary: The third numbers have gone off to fight, Metalman (and the rest of the second line) contemplate.





	1. Chapter 1

009 Log: On number 18 and the third war starting

They've all just left. Gone to their stations, another line sent to war.  
I helped build them of course, a few of us did. The rest watched from doorways, peeking over my shoulder blades to glimpse faces of what might soon be their younger brothers.   
I remember Crashman's first elated reaction to seeing Sparkman's body the first time, and Flashman's curiosity over Geminiman's duplicator. Bubbleman was quite interested in Snakeman's design, too. (maybe a bit jealous?)   
Working on their weapon systems was weird though- Every now and then I would find a piece of Light coding. I guess it made sense since he helped make their bases before Wily... well, took possession of them. That aside, They were all nice to work on, though... a feeling of dread always hung in the air- that they were going to be sent into battle like we were, ̶T̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶w̶e̶ ̶w̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶r̶e̶p̶l̶a̶c̶e̶d̶.̶   
One of them fascinates me more than they should : 018, Magnetman. He seems so much like me. True, I've heard that people sometimes say I have the best design, and Airman can sympathize with copying I guess (He seems fine with Needleman, they're both pretty solitary.) It's not that I don't like Magnet (quite the opposite), I'm just curious what he'll do...  
He has pieces of light in his core, I know he'll accomplish great things, maybe things I never could.  
How is he going to do out on the field? Will he have the same thoughts I did not all that long ago?   
Feeling scared of course, but also set up- like this is what he was made for. But it's not really what Light originally intended him for, right? Oh, what is he thinking? Wily is idly checking the cameras and I wish I knew.

 

A small part of me hopes he will fail. That my plans won't be used again. That I can keep being the only one like me... Oh what am I saying, the only reason I'd wish this on them is so they don't have think all the things that I am now.  
Though he's not the oldest, he seems to be the designated leader. It's his job to worry about his brothers, I could tell this from the few days we had together before the fighting. He seemed so quiet and calm, but I keep up the same facade myself, as I was the one in his circuits not so long ago. If he really is that much like me... I hope he has somewhere better than a warehouse full of blades to have a crisis right now. (It probably doesn't matter where he is, it won't help)

Wily is watching the cameras intently now, he'll call us over any minute. I know I'm not the only one sick with nerves, Woodman refused all communication with the 3rd line, never coming inside the fortress the few days they were here.

It's because we know they'll come back broken, not just in body but in mind and heart. Parts of how they were before will be crushed, and I don't blame him for not wanting to know them before.

Now the call comes, it's time to watch the show.   
We all know they're going to fail, but we come willingly anyway.  
Woodman enters the fortress for the first time in days, Quickman finally stops running crazed circles around the floor, and Heatman drags himself away from his nervous coloring. We all watch. We pray for our little brothers, going out like stars in the morning light.


	2. 009 Log: On the return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter made possible by: KingsMagicCard

009 Log: On the return 

Oh, they're coming back.  
Not of their own accord, of course. Woodman left to pick them up with the truck this morning. He felt like it was his job, after he kind of left them at first. I offered to go with, but he said it would be better for my health to stay here. He's probably right. The rest of brothers are excited to have the third numbers back. I am too, but... I'm also the one that has to see them all broken, I have to fix them all because Wily won't bother. They're failures to him at this point. I mean, we were too, but he needed us to upkeep the fortress. I know he'll need the thirds too, I'm sure he's already attached to them, just disappointed.  
Cutman has been sending me funny pictures to try to cheer me up. Heh, What did I do to deserve him?  
Oh! The truck is back. Everyone helps carry... them, back into the room where they were created. Everyone helps clean them up, and then leaves the repairs to me and Flashman. We work through the night fixing broken bodies, until Heatman comes in and pesters us to get some rest.  
This goes on for a while, until one day three of them are ready for re-activation. GeminiMan, Snakeman and Sparkman. Of course, with Flashman around, Gemini was repaired first. I suggested we also repair his opposite, Snakeman. And Sparkman? Well, Crashman wouldn't stop pestering us about him. Now that there's three, we think it would be a good idea to activate them together. So we do, and I stay to the side of the room. Flash and Crashman greet them as the wake.  
I think snakeman has spotted me, he's heading over here's. His balance sensors are still recalibrating, and he nearly falls over. (Kind of embarrassing for a spybot)  
He asks me about the rest of his brothers. I tell him they're still being repaired. He sighs in relief, probably thought they were the only three recovered. He says that I look tired and I guess I probably do. I watch as he goes back and sneaks up on Geminiman, who is taking to Flash. Both of them shriek when he pounces. They're so much like us. I think the fortress will be a more lively place.

A few days later, there are two left. Shadowman and Magnetman. I was surprised to find that Shadowman had already mostly healed on his own! I guess Wily really did find him in an abandoned ruin, he's not like the rest of us. He woke up with out my input, and stared at me. I told him he didn't technically have to stay, since he was abandoned and not built by Wily anyway. He said no, he needs to "serve his master" and then disappeared after thanking me. How strange...  
Speaking of which, Magnetman's damage was mostly by shadow blades. It's very strange and hard to repair. It was at this point that I brought him up to my room for more intensive work.  
Cutman visited once, sneaking through the window, what a guy! He brought some muffins he snatched from the kitchen were Roll had left them. It was the first real break I'd taken besides sleeping, and it helped me greatly. 

Back to work, it seems if I treat the shadow blade damage like corrosion, it works well. Shadowman really is interesting, I would like to look at his systems more closely later, though it doesn't seem that will happen easily. I sleep well knowing that I've found out how to fix Magnetman properly.


	3. 009 Log: Awake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last one, and it’s short

Okay, it’s ready. I’m going to re-activate him now...  
He sits up right away, which is odd. And then he stares at me. I tell him what’s going on. (less than eloquently, I usually leave the introductions to others) He looks down at his newly repaired body and then back at me. Does he notice how the replacement metal is slightly off color?   
Oh, he’s asking me something. Asking... Why I did this, why I repaired him and his brothers almost seamlessly. I’m surprised, telling him that it’s because we’re brothers. He... said he didn’t know I thought of them like that. I say that of course, we all do. I can tell he’s smiling under the mask. He then asks me how I learned to repair so well. I recount all the times where one brother or another got hurt, and wily was too busy to fix them. So I read Wily’s books and tried different things until it worked. He looks at me again and asks if... I could teach him how to repair. I’m smiling for the first time in a while.  
“Of course I can”


End file.
